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Team Needs: Buffalo Bills |
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Hurtin' for: a receiver
Lee Evans is a good player, but he must get a bit lonely. Roscoe Parrish has tremendous speed but is even shorter than Evans and thus fails to complement him on the field. Josh Reed has to be surprised that he sees the ball as often as he does, because the combination of average speed and hands would seem a good reason to bury a guy on the depth chart. Peerless Price has nothing left (now including a locker in
Buffalo
), no matter how many times the Bills try to bring him back. Unfortunately for
Buffalo
, there might not be a receiver in this class truly worthy of going 11th. Of course, that doesn't mean the team won't take one there.
Should be lookin' for: a corner and a tight end
It's easy to think of the Bills being weak at cornerback, but according to Football Outsiders, the team was actually above average against all but opponents' No. 2 receivers. That indicates that Terrence McGee is fine on one side, but the team could use a new guy to pair with him. If Ashton Youboty were the answer, I'd like to think he would have shown it by now, particularly last season with just Jabari Greer and Jason Webster (before he got hurt) as competition. With the aforementioned top-receiver shortage in the draft,
Buffalo
might want to look for a corner at 11.
As for tight end, I think it's rarely a good plan to address a need with as many Raider castoffs as you can find. Teyo Johnson has intriguing size but has fared so well to date that he spent 2007 out of football. Courtney Anderson has looked pretty average. The Bills need to come out of April with at least a talented young receiver or a tight end, for the sake of Trent Edwards.
Will likely settle for: available talent
The Bills aren't nearly as needy as teams like
Miami
,
St. Louis
and
Atlanta
, but I only see two positions that appear set without any more additions: linebacker and running back. Defensive tackle could be a strength if Marcus Stroud proves healthy and John McCargo develops. Everywhere else, though, young talent would help. That includes quarterback, where Edwards is heading into his first full season as the starter and J.P. Losman has no more than a year left in town.
Matt Schauf is a contributing writer for Draft Stock and an associate editor and senior NFL writer for SportsBuff.com |